Neal in driving seat for Honda's title challenge

The season of new life is promising a renaissance across the spectrum of motor sport. Formula One seems a different being, fresh faces are invigorating the World Rally Championship and now the tin-top brigade of the British Touring Car Championship are ready to acclaim their healthiest delivery in years.

Just as Ferrari and Peugeot are having to tread warily among the green shoots of the opposition in their respective domains, so Vauxhall fear they will no longer be able to trample all over the BTCC field. That is a relief for the series organisers and its faithful followers, who may have wondered if the more affordable formula really would pave the way to better racing.

The first evidence will be available on Monday when Vauxhall and James Thompson begin the defence of their British titles at Mondello Park, in the Irish Republic. Ian Harrison, the team principal of Triple Eight, who run the works Astra Coupés, concedes they have just about exhausted the potential of the model and that others are closing in.

MG have recruited Colin Turkington, a highly rated Ulsterman, to partner Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes, a measure of their ambition this season. Proton, too, are expected to join the mix with David Leslie and Phil Bennett.

However, perhaps the most serious threat to Thompson and his colleagues – Yvan Muller and Paul O'Neill – will come from Honda and Arena Motorsport. They believe they now have the car, the team, the drivers and the momentum to sustain a genuine challenge.

Alan Morrison, the former British Motocross champion who took to four wheels because of a knee injury, finished last season with a win and again drives the Civic. His team-mates are Tom Chilton – barely 18, precocious and apparently fearless – and Matt Neal, the Birmingham-born giant who revelled in the role of David but is now, at the age of 36, cast as No 1 with a full factory effort behind him.

Neal, lured from Vauxhall, already has his place in racing folklore. At 6ft 6in he is reckoned to the biggest man in the sport and in 1999 he became the first privateer in modern times to win a BTCC race. At last, he is regarded as a championship contender but admits the expectation drapes uncomfortably on that formidable frame.

"I don't like to be a favourite,'' he said. "I like to be hiding in the background and then just get up and do the business. Being an independent you weren't expected to win, but if you did everyone went crazy.

"At Honda I'm the person with the experience, that people are going to want to call on, and it's more pressure. It's new territory for me. Honda Racing is such a big organisation to have behind you and it falls to me to come up with the results and give them something back for the faith they put in me.

"People would have to put their money on Vauxhall but we are probably the dark horses. I think we should be able to have a crack at the championship. The Honda has its strengths and weaknesses, as has the Vauxhall. Certain circuits will probably suit MG. You should see jumbled-up grids and a heap of different winners.''

Chilton may be half Neal's age, but he is no shrinking violet. The motor sport engineering student, from Reigate, ruffled the feathers of a former champion, Tim Harvey, on his debut last season and contends: "Nothing fazes me – I'm quite a tough guy psychologically. I've got respect for the more experienced guys but I'm not going to say, 'after you'.''

Morrison shows no resentment that Neal and Chilton have gatecrashed his party. "It's a great atmosphere in the team,'' he says. "Matt's a super guy. Tom's young, up and coming. The chemistry feels right. We all want to beat each other but we're all working together.

"People talk about our being Vauxhall's main challengers, but I like to think they may be our main challengers! It's going to be close but we might just pull it off. I've never been in a championship and not won, except one, so if I keep that going it'll be a great story for me, the team and my family.''

Thompson, for his part, welcomes the competition. "It's going to be a classic year,'' he said. "The top 12 cars are going to be covered by a fag packet. You're going to have to drive hard, be canny and crafty, and keep out of trouble.

"Apart from my team-mates, you've got to be looking at Matt Neal at Honda and MG. Everyone's close and it's going to be a fantastic year, but I relish the challenge. Now I've got the No 1 on my door I don't want to see it go to anybody else.''

That message is echoed by Reid. "I missed winning the title by one point in 2000," he said, "so I have this burning ambition to win it and I think MG have given me my best shot.''

British Touring Car Championship

Driver line-up

BTC Touring

Vauxhall (Astra Coupe) James Thompson, Evan Muller, Paul O'Neill

Honda (Civic Type-R) Matt Neal, Alan Morrison, Tom Chilton

MG (ZS) Warren Hughes, Anthony Reid, Colin Turkington

Proton (Impian) David Leslie, Phil Bennett

Synchro (Honda Civic R) James Kaye

Collard Racing (Vauxhall A C) Robert Collard

GA Motorsport (Vauxhall A C) Gavin Pyper

Team Halfords (Peugeot 307) Dan Eaves, Carl Breeze

BTC Production

Edenbridge Racing (BMW 320i) Michael Bentwood

Barwell Motorsport (Honda Civic R) Luke Hines

Team Varta (Peugeot 307, Honda Accord) Tom Boardman, Jim Edwards

GA Motorsport (Alfa Romeo 156) Paul Wallace, Chris Ryan

Calendar

21 Apr: Mondello Park. 5 May: Brands Hatch. 26 May: Thruxton. 8 June: Silverstone. 22 June: Rockingham. 13 July: Croft. 9 Aug: Snetterton. 25 Aug: Brands Hatch. 7 Sept: Donington Park. 21 Sept: Oulton Park.